In a few more days — maybe as early as Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta — the Avalanche star won’t have to talk about his hernia injury anymore.

After that, it’ll just be hockey games and the pursuit of a playoff spot.

Sakic had his first full practice Tuesday with the Avs since late December and will accompany them on a five-game road trip that starts tonight at Anaheim. While he won’t play tonight, Sakic should play before the trip ends next Wednesday at Vancouver, coach Joel Quenneville said.

Sakic’s return can’t come soon enough for a team that has lost a season-high four straight, scoring three goals in the process.

“Every day, it’s getting a little closer,” Sakic said. “I’m not sure it’s day to day for me yet, but hopefully I’ll be playing at some point in the trip. Right now, things are feeling good and it’s just a matter of getting the conditioning in and making sure it’s all set to go.”

Just a couple of locker stalls away, Sakic’s injured teammate, Paul Stastny, spoke of being close to a return as well. Stastny, out with a groin pull, is doubtful to return tonight. But Quenneville said the young all-star center is closer to returning than Sakic, which would make Friday’s game at Phoenix a possibility.

“It’s been frustrating being out, with us losing games,” Stastny said. “I guess I’m close now, but we’ll have to wait to see what the doctors think and go from there.”

Sakic called Monday’s 4-0 home loss to the Red Wings “one of those games you’re going to have in a long season,” but thinks there is plenty of time to get back in the playoff chase. Sort of.

“Points are at a premium right now. But there’s still a month and a half left of hockey,” Sakic said. “We’re one point out of a playoff spot right now (entering Tuesday). So, nobody’s panicking in this locker room. We can move right back up the standings with a couple wins, but we need to make sure we come ready to play on this trip. We’ve got five tough road games in front of us.”

Quenneville put his team through some drills Tuesday meant to increase toughness and battle-readiness. The rink was shortened to just a corner of the ice, and players had one-on-one competitions to get the puck to the net.

“It’s something we have to do — compete and battle — a little better than we’ve done the last couple games, maybe,” winger Ian Laperriere said.

Laperriere, who injured Detroit star Nicklas Lidstrom with a big hit Monday, shrugged off continued comments from Wings players and coaches that the hit was dirty because of an allegedly high elbow to the head. However, replays showed Laperriere’s elbow wasn’t close to being over his own head level, and that Lidstrom’s own head was down along the boards — one of hockey’s biggest no-nos.

“It was a clean hit, and that’s all there is to say about it,” Laperriere said. “If it was on their side, where one of their guys made that hit, they wouldn’t be saying a thing about it.”

COLORADO AT ANAHEIM

8 p.m. tonight, ALT, KKFN 950 AM

Spotlight on Ryan Carter: The Ducks signed Carter, who now seems entrenched following his recall from the AHL in December, as a free agent in 2006 after Carter played two seasons at Minnesota State. Ducks assistant general manager David McNab asked his former University of Wisconsin roommateGeorge Gwozdecky, now the coach at the University of Denver — and Gwozdecky raved about him.

NOTEBOOK

Avalanche: Peter Budaj is scheduled to get his first start since Feb. 4 tonight against the Ducks. Jose Theodore has started the last six and 17 of the last 20. In fact, the last time Budaj started when both goalies were healthy was against Phoenix on Jan. 2. . . . The five-game trip includes games at Phoenix, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Ducks: Anaheim won the two previous meetings between the teams, both 2-1. The Ducks won in overtime at the Honda Center on Dec. 19, then in Denver on Feb. 12, the latter starting the Avs’ current four-game losing streak. . . . The defending Stanley Cup champions are coming off a 4-2 home victory over Calgary on Sunday, and former Colorado winger Teemu Selanne took sole possession of No. 1 on the Anaheim all-time scoring list with an assist on Ryan Carter’s second-period goal. He had been tied with Paul Kariya. The Finnish Flash has 670 points in his 563 games with Anaheim.

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